ST225 to dc5

[Unionrep]

Hi there
Hope all is well in the dc5 community.
So I’m contemplating buying a dc5, I’ve never owned or drove or even been in a Honda of any kind in my 23 years of driving, other then a s2000 briefly last year, it was only a short test drive and I was left a little underwhelmed to be honest, just kept running out of b road to really enjoy the vtec. But a year on and I can’t help but keep looking at the s2000’s and dc5’s.
Currently I own a focus st mk2, have owned it for 8 years and although it’s been a fantastic car I’m thinking of possibly moving on soon.
I know what everyone likes in a car is different and opinions will vary, but I was wondering if anyone on here has come from a mk2 focus st to a dc5 , and if so how did you find it?
Thanks.

 

[s_barker@hotmail.co.uk]

I've owned both. The dc5 had a full suspension setup coilovers, polly bushed and I found everyday driving was just to much. The focus st felt alot better having torque and comfort but i guess it depends what your plans are with the car.

The dc5 was an amazing fun car but only when the roads were clear and I wasn't going down a motorway or dual carriageway.

I'd like a standard dc5 but no chance would I pay the prices they fetch today

 

[Lemons]

I've owned both. The dc5 had a full suspension setup coilovers, polly bushed and I found everyday driving was just to much. The focus st felt alot better having torque and comfort but i guess it depends what your plans are with the car.

The dc5 was an amazing fun car but only when the roads were clear and I wasn't going down a motorway or dual carriageway.

I'd like a standard dc5 but no chance would I pay the prices they fetch today

Exactly this.

 

[Unionrep]

Thanks for replying fellas.
So it’d just be a hobby car really, I do 4-5 trackdays a year and usually a weekend road trip somewhere, my daily is a van and we have a family car, the focus was the wife’s and the family car for best part of 7 years but now kids are older we needed a more door so I sold my r53 and started using the focus as I couldn’t bring myself to sell it. Spent a small fortune on it over the last year fitting a m factory diff, bc coilovers, getting them all set up and corner weighted, k sport big brake kit, plus more, running 300bhp and 366ftlb torque, I went for fast road as opposed to full track car simply because I didn’t want to take away the comfort.
In my head a 1200kg, 240/250bhp dc5 sounds like it’d be epic on track, I just not so sure about it now on long journeys like to the ring.

 

[DE4NO]

I purchased a DC5 a few months ago, and its a summer weekend toy. I drove it 500 miles home on the day I bought it in relative comfort, it has Bilstein coilovers.

I would say the DC5 is perfectly fine on Motorways, Dual Carriageways and Back roads. Where it struggles is around the streets due to crap roads and speed bumps. I imagine it would be better on standard suspension.

 

[Unionrep]

Cheers for that DE4NO.
Like all cars then I suppose it depends on what suspension components your running. My r53 on standard suspension, lowering springs or coilovers felt harsh and crashy on the roads but great on track with either of those 3. The focus on the lowering springs was comfy enough but a little crashy on the road and like a boat on track, on the coilovers it’s a good compromise between road and track with the adjustable damping.
I need to go test drive on really, but there’s nothing local enough to me at the moment.

 

[DE4NO]

It’ll take a while to find a good one unless you are lucky. There’s a lot of rust buckets out there, and dreamers trying to sell them! Be prepared for lots of travelling and lots of disappointment. Sellers are generally not to be trusted, including traders. The best cars gor sale are normally found on here, but rarely come up.

 

[Unionrep]

I’m in no rush what so ever, I’ll just take my time and see what comes available, I’ll keep my eyes out for any s2000’s that come up local too as I still like the look of them. I’ve booked Germany for October so wouldn’t bother me if it’s until after that to be honest, probably get another trackday in before then too, I’ve spent all this money on the focus so might aswel get some use out of it.
A friend has told me there’s a car show coming up soon in Enfield and when he went last year there was loads of Hondas, I might try get down to that, talk to some owners.

 

[carl hammond]

I purchased a DC5 a few months ago, and its a summer weekend toy. I drove it 500 miles home on the day I bought it in relative comfort, it has Bilstein coilovers.

I would say the DC5 is perfectly fine on Motorways, Dual Carriageways and Back roads. Where it struggles is around the streets due to crap roads and speed bumps. I imagine it would be better on standard suspension.

Incorrect, Oem DC5 suspension is miles worse than Bilsteins or pretty much any coilovers decent (not nasty cheap setups as they are just shocking quality).

The reason being they are made for Japanese roads and so on our roads they are far worse and crashy.

Bilstein are possibly the best road compliant track usable suspension setup, after mugen shows dampers and spoon springs (see my in depth suspension review).

If you have Bilstein pss9 b16’s you can adjust the height and damping whereas the b14 is only height adjustable.

My thread here covers a batch of suspensions I personally fitted and used on my DC5 -

Suspension Reviews:

To help other owners with certain goals I thought I‘d put together this detailed review of the suspension setups I‘ve personally used on my DC5. My setups to date: 1st - OEM 2nd - Mugen Dampers & Spoon Springs 3rd - Bilsteins PSS9 B16 Coilovers 4th - Area Motorsport version (Track Focussed...

www.itr-dc5.club

 

[carl hammond]

Hi there
Hope all is well in the dc5 community.
So I’m contemplating buying a dc5, I’ve never owned or drove or even been in a Honda of any kind in my 23 years of driving, other then a s2000 briefly last year, it was only a short test drive and I was left a little underwhelmed to be honest, just kept running out of b road to really enjoy the vtec. But a year on and I can’t help but keep looking at the s2000’s and dc5’s.
Currently I own a focus st mk2, have owned it for 8 years and although it’s been a fantastic car I’m thinking of possibly moving on soon.
I know what everyone likes in a car is different and opinions will vary, but I was wondering if anyone on here has come from a mk2 focus st to a dc5 , and if so how did you find it?
Thanks.

The DC5 is a good fun car, out the box they are OK, with some money spent they can be very fun but once you master them they can get boring fast. I had mine circa 5.5-6yrs from memory. I bought it as a bit of a project and thought I would attend shows, but after a restoration/repaint etc it was clear that shows are not my thing due to the amount of muppets that attended them. SO I turned it into a road legal track car. I went through pretty much a suspension setup each year (through choice) as I like to try and test parts and the car itself was pretty much faultless over the entirety of my ownership.

Before buying one make sure its the right car for you, ensure you check it over thoroughly for previous rust and any potential rust now (by checking the rear inner arches) behind the plastics, if there is any external rust be cautious as it works its way out from the inners so this could be a big issue going forward.

It will be many smiles per miles but wont come without faults, issues and a real lack of luxury compared to what you're used too and in reality will more than likely feel slower and less pokey, but more focussed so to speak.

If you was underwhelmed by the S2000 you will be the same with the DC5 imo, unless very well setup and driven hard they are average, the thing with honda's is they are built to be driven hard and revv'd, you have to be pushing it to get anything from it which is why many are used as track cars as on the road 90% of the time you cannot drive it how it needs to be driven to be appreciated.

Anymore info you may need or want just ask away, look through a few of us old owners and forum users posts on here as we filled this place with a wealth of knowledge of which many questions can be answered...

Note - I also agree with the other comments on prices, these are not 15+k cars at all and I would never pay anywhere near that for one, been there done it and bought when they were priced accordingly, for that sort of money there are far far better cars out there (imo of course)

 

[DE4NO]

^^^
As above, they are not £15k cars. However if you want one that’s decent that’s what you will have to pay. I looked on and off for a good year and ended up buying one 500 miles away for £15k ironically enough.

 

[carl hammond]

^^^
As above, they are not £15k cars. However if you want one that’s decent that’s what you will have to pay. I looked on and off for a good year and ended up buying one 500 miles away for £15k ironically enough.

I sold mine for 13.8k and sold within 12hrs in 2021, absolutely flawless example with many high end parts. The rest I stripped and sold and over doubled my money, the moneys in the parts nowadays lol

 

[Unionrep]

Thanks fellas, appreciate all your in put.
I’ve read and seen on people’s video reviews of the dc5 that they are a great car, but not worth the money they are up for especially as for not much more your in Evo 6 territory, and for far less you can pick up an ep3.
The sensible thing would be to keep the focus as I’ve spent a small fortune on it to get it where it’s at, but after 8 years of ownership I think I just fancy something different. My short list was dc5, s2000 and 350z.
Like you Carl I did plan on doing a few shows and less trackdays as trackdays are so expensive now but I duno if they’d be my thing either, on the focus forums it’s full of kids who want to know what’s the loudest exhaust and best pop and bang map is, as someone just turned 40 I can’t think of nothing worse so I’d image Ford shows might be the same so never actually attended any.

 

[carl hammond]

Thanks fellas, appreciate all your in put.
I’ve read and seen on people’s video reviews of the dc5 that they are a great car, but not worth the money they are up for especially as for not much more your in Evo 6 territory, and for far less you can pick up an ep3.
The sensible thing would be to keep the focus as I’ve spent a small fortune on it to get it where it’s at, but after 8 years of ownership I think I just fancy something different. My short list was dc5, s2000 and 350z.
Like you Carl I did plan on doing a few shows and less trackdays as trackdays are so expensive now but I duno if they’d be my thing either, on the focus forums it’s full of kids who want to know what’s the loudest exhaust and best pop and bang map is, as someone just turned 40 I can’t think of nothing worse so I’d image Ford shows might be the same so never actually attended any.

I think it all really boils down to what you want, how you want to use it and what will make you happy.

Myself and anyone else here can only really comment on our own experiences and thats all then based on our own findings, wants and needs.

For me if I have an itch to scratch I will buy the car and experience it for me and how I want, if shows are not the right thing then I find an alternative way to enjoy the car, I am older than you so grew up at a time I had the luxury of experiencing many many cars and enjoying them, I used to enjoy car shows but they are now full of muppets and kids who generally have no idea and are tools lol. I was happy to have gone through 90% of the JDM cars I wanted to own before the scene went that way.

Trackdays are getting more expensive and have been going up constantly year on year, but if that's what you're into (like me) then I make sure I use my car as I planned at the point of buying it. My new car has yet to see the track as none of my parts fitted and so I have had to re-buy everything and am selling stuff now (mostly new and unused) as it'll just sit here until this cars sold and replaced.

I would do a pro's and con's list for both in your position and list out what I want, have, would miss, dont care about, how I use the current car vs how I would use the next one and so on

Never had a focus st but do like them, however I do see many being driven by muppets lol

 

[danr19]

Valuing them at the moment is really tricky I think. Traders are advertising DC5s for around £17,000 and managing to sell them. I can see though that somebody would be willing to pay that from a dealer more so than privately - although I don't think that necessarily means you're getting a better car (All coming from one of the dreamers).

For privately owned cars though, as said, this forum is a good place to start. I've been here since 2009 and I think most people on here will be honest and open and will look after them to the best of their means. They're old cars though at the end of the day and won't be perfect. I for one though would be mortified if somebody found inherent issues with my car after purchasing it.

It is very difficult. It's alot of money for an older car now, and as has been said, there are other good options. I suppose it's all down to what you really want.

More on the subject - ride quality has always been an issue for me. Sometimes it's great, but on some roads not so. But then as has been said, lots can be done to make it work for you. So much fun though when the roads are nice

 

[DE4NO]

Also worth mentioning is that it’s unlikely these cars will depreciate and if they do it won’t be by much, so even though they are expensive for what they are, chances are you’ll get your money back if looked after.

 

[Unionrep]

I did cadwell on Thursday and with the drive up there from Essex, a day off work (self employed), fuel and the trackday it self it cost me just shy of £500! Think I’ll just do a couple of evenings now at snetterton before the year ends as I can do that for less than half of what cadwell cost me. I was hoping to see a dc5 there but no, although there was a s2000 there but I never got the opportunity to get out on track with it. A few Ep3’s and fn2’s aswel.

The mk2 focus st is a great all rounder Carl, loads of low down grunt and it just keeps on pulling through all the gears, at 300bhp there’s another 40bhp to be had before the stock turbo can’t take no more but I wanted reliability so stopped at 300, and once I got the suspension and geo set up and diff fitted, along with some track tyres it’s proved to be a good track car too, it is a little on the heavy side with full leather and other comforts but I wanted a fast road car that’s capable on track and not a full on track car that’d be too jarring on the road otherwise road trips to wales and Germany wouldn’t be as enjoyable I’d imagine. Obviously it won’t be in the same league as your lotus, and I’ve been on enough trackdays now to know there will always be someone faster in the most unassuming car, like a Ford fusion i once see at cadwell, but it’s always put a smile on my face,
I really do need to go out in a teg, see how the two compare, don’t suppose anyone on here is in the essex area?

 

[danr19]

Also worth mentioning is that it’s unlikely these cars will depreciate and if they do it won’t be by much, so even though they are expensive for what they are, chances are you’ll get your money back if looked after.

Completely agree. The key is to keep on top of potential issues. They'll always be sought after.

 

[Unionrep]

Cheers danr19 and again thanks de4no for your opinions.
To be honest, I think I’d be looking at one that’ll need a little work doing to it if I was to buy one, a project, because as you guys say they are fetching good money and I just couldn’t justify that to the mrs.
As for keeping on top of issues yeh I get that, I do keep on top of the maintenance side of things anyway, I’m fortunate my father in law owns his own garage which I have access to ramps and tools.

 

[carl hammond]

I did cadwell on Thursday and with the drive up there from Essex, a day off work (self employed), fuel and the trackday it self it cost me just shy of £500! Think I’ll just do a couple of evenings now at snetterton before the year ends as I can do that for less than half of what cadwell cost me. I was hoping to see a dc5 there but no, although there was a s2000 there but I never got the opportunity to get out on track with it. A few Ep3’s and fn2’s aswel.

The mk2 focus st is a great all rounder Carl, loads of low down grunt and it just keeps on pulling through all the gears, at 300bhp there’s another 40bhp to be had before the stock turbo can’t take no more but I wanted reliability so stopped at 300, and once I got the suspension and geo set up and diff fitted, along with some track tyres it’s proved to be a good track car too, it is a little on the heavy side with full leather and other comforts but I wanted a fast road car that’s capable on track and not a full on track car that’d be too jarring on the road otherwise road trips to wales and Germany wouldn’t be as enjoyable I’d imagine. Obviously it won’t be in the same league as your lotus, and I’ve been on enough trackdays now to know there will always be someone faster in the most unassuming car, like a Ford fusion i once see at cadwell, but it’s always put a smile on my face,
I really do need to go out in a teg, see how the two compare, don’t suppose anyone on here is in the essex area?

Yeah I really like the look of the Focus's, sounds like yours is a well sorted car, the DC5 will not be anywhere near as pokey, even when moddified (unless you go supercharged or Turbo'd), but imo if you want a FI car then buy one that's FI out the box as the joy of owning an EK9, DC2, DC5, FD2 etc is the N/A fun they bring by means of the high revv'ing and the fact you have to ring it's neck to keep any power on.

I track videos I can share with you to show what a well setup DC5 in the right hands is capable of if that helps, but I cannot help with a test drive or experience in one now unfortunately, and my old car which was a superb example now resides up north :-(

I am only in Kent so not too far from you if you find any you like the idea of and have any questions or need any advice etc, but deff keep your options open and dont impulse buy one and do your homework before buying and look into a cars history also.

The reason I say this is in any potential market there are dogs, I nearly bought 3 Cup cars before buying mine, turns out one was used as a track tuition car (not just a track car) so an unknown amount of drivers and unknown use, another had been in an accident but undeclared, I just knew something was wrong and the third was abused within an inch of it's life and not maintained properly as it was used this way.

Car's being used and tracked is fine, as long as they are maintained properly, so this is key and any red flags walk...